Beachcombers - The Beginning

(by Ruth Burleigh)

Beachcombers Lodge has its origin in a trip to the snow in 1953 by our foundation president and ever after our building officer - Rob Grantham. We owe so much to him for his long commitment to the lodge. In those days downhill skiing was centred around the site of the old Kosciusko hotel, then known as Sponars on courses such as the Kerry course and the Grand Slam - all below Smiggins and an area that these days only has intermittent snow on the ground.

The following years saw Rob and friends explore the skiing in the developing areas of Thredbo and Perisher. The friends Carl Martin and Carl Matthes and later Ian Boydell and Danny Thompson, all foundation members, developed the concept of a lodge of their own.

In 1958, Rob and his wife met Kay and Les Genner at the original Sundeck and again in 1959 at the opening week of the Man from Snowy River. Les provided the Parramatta link by inviting Rotarians Ken Brown, Mick Dolphin, Steve Jedlin, Ken Marshall and John Thomas to become foundation members.

Formal meetings took place during 1959 and an application was made for a site in Perisher. For a long time there was no response from the Kosciusko State Park Trust (KSPT) but in May 1961 an application form was received for Site 12 Stage 1. A hurried visit (next day) saw Rob, Ian and Carl Martin hot footing it to Perisher to inspect this site. Bear in mind that the sealed road ended on the boundary between ACT and NSW and the rest was dirt.

The site being offered was where Yarrandoo now stands but this did not impress. The trio much preferred our present site and took off to discuss this with the KSPT superintendent. As Yarrandoo had not acknowledged the receipt of the offer, sent some 8 weeks before, it was agreed that the sites could be swapped subject to KSPT’s approval as we were "ready to go".

The intrepid trio returned to the site in atrocious weather, took photographs and measurements and a site plan was drafted under the protection of a groundsheet.

In Sydney, plans moved ahead rapidly and Ian produced the design of Beachcombers first home. This included,

o Maximum 16 beds (still our allocation)

o 4 Self contained rooms - 4 bunks and en-suite bathroom

o Simple enough for amateurs to build

o Compact and well insulated to save on heating

o Food store - nearest supplies was old Jindabyne

o Loft for overflow accommodation

Following the approval of the plans, which were highly commended by the Park Trust, the following months saw a hive of activity. This included financial arrangements, insurance for working parties, need for volunteers for concrete foundations and pre-fab of walls and roof framing and then erection of frame estimated to take 12 days. 18 males took part in the January work parties.

Plan for members was that couples would join at 50 pounds each and were invited to loan another 50 pounds. Each male was to work 2 weeks on site or pay 40 pounds per week for a labourer. As more money was required on top of members' contributions, loans were established with members as guarantors.

By February 1962, the board was discussing furnishings and in March an EGM was held with minutes, financial and building reports and Steve Jedlin - the first booking officer explained the preferential system which included members had 2 weeks priority, school holidays 1 week only (what's changed!). House rules and house captains were discussed along with arrangements for food to be purchased in Sydney, railed to Cooma and picked up by the club truck which had been bought to assist with the building.

We were ready for our first winter and the rest is HISTORY...